Compressed air projectile launchers are made to launch projectiles using compressed air as the source of launching force. The devices are used for launching a variety of projectiles ranging from toy projectiles, such as toy rockets, to ball type projectiles, such as paint balls. However, despite the development of many approaches to compressed air launchers, these approaches often have significant drawbacks.
Using compressed air is as a launching force provides many benefits. First, compressed air tends to be safer than using other sources of energy such as explosive sources of energy, like gun powder. Second, compressed air uses an inexpensive and readily available resource—air. Finally, using compressed air provides an easy way to control the force of the launch by controlling the force of the compression.
Many approaches have been developed to compressing air for compressed air projectile launchers. The simplest approach uses a tube, a piston, and a projectile. A projectile is placed snugly in one end of the tube and a piston in the other end. As the piston is pushed towards the projectile the air is compressed and will launch the projectile out of tube when the force of the compressed air is greater than the frictional force of the projectile against the tube. However, as sometimes it is desirable to launch the projectile with great force, other approaches have been developed.
One approach is compressing the air in advance by pumping compressed air into a chamber and then releasing the air at the desired time. However, this approach requires periodically re-pumping of the launcher, delaying the time between launches. In some situations, being able to launch projectiles quickly in rapid succession is important. One such situation is when playing the sport of paint ball. In this sport, opponents try to shoot each other with paint balls before their opponent does. Being able to shoot paint balls quickly in rapid succession can mean the difference between winning and losing. Therefore, a compressed air projectile launcher is needed that allows for repeated shooting without the need to pump the launcher multiple times in-between launches.
Another approach is to use compressed air canisters. Compressed air canisters are connected to the launchers and allow the launcher to be fired multiple times without needing to wait to recompress the air. However, these compressed air canisters have limited volumes and need to be replaced periodically. Replacing the canisters in the middle of a game will prevent the user from shooting, which is a disadvantage. Therefore, a compressed air projectile launcher is needed that will not run out of its source of compressed air.
Thus, there is a need for a compressed air projectile launcher that can deliver a high level of force to shoot projectiles. Such a needed device would allow for repeated launches without the need to pump the launcher multiple times between launches. The needed device would further have an unlimited ability to provide compressed air to avoid running out of compressed air at an inconvenient time. The present invention accomplishes these objectives.